PLBY

Image source: The Motley Fool. Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at 5 p.m. ET Chief Executive Officer - Ben Kohn Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer - Marc Crossman Operator: Good afternoon. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Playboy Inc.'s Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] This conference is being recorded today, Monday, August 10, 2026, and the earnings press release and Form 10-Q for which information may be referenced during this conference call were issued after the market closed today. On our call today are Playboy Inc.'s Chief Executive Officer, Ben Kohn; and Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Marc Crossman. I'd like to remind you that the information discussed today is qualified in its entirety by the Form 8-K and Form 10-Q filed today by Playboy Inc., which may be accessed on the SEC's website and on Playboy Inc.'s website. Please note that statements made during this call, financial projections and other statements that are not historical in nature may constitute forward-looking statements. Such statements are made on the basis of Playboy Inc.'s reviews and assumptions regarding future events and business performance at the time they are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update them. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, which could cause the company's actual results to differ from its historical results and forecasts, including those risks set forth in the SEC filings, and you should refer to and carefully consider those for more information. This cautionary statement applies to all forward-looking statements made during this call. Do not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. In addition, throughout today's call, the company may refer to adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, which it believes provides helpful information to investors about the performance of the business on an ongoing basis. Reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is included in today's earnings release, which is available on Playboy Inc. Investor Relations website. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Playboy Chief Executive Officer, Ben Kohn. Ben, the floor is yours. Ben Kohn: Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. I appreciate you joining us. Two years ago, we articulated a clear strategy: make the Playboy brand culturally relevant, build a profitable asset-light business model with significant growth potential around 3 verticals: licensing, media and experiences and hospitality, alongside Honey Birdette, all while deleveraging the balance sheet. Two years on, we are executing and the balance sheet is dramatically stronger. The second quarter is the clearest evidence yet that the strategy is working. We are culturally relevant, we are profitable, and we have set the stage for significant growth, testing, measuring what actually converts, leaning into what works and being fiscally responsible with every dollar. Let me take the pieces one at a time. Starting with the results, because they are the truest test of any strategy. Revenue grew to approximately $31.2 million, up roughly 11% year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA was approximately $7 million, including more than $700,000 of litigation expenses, nearly double a year ago, and our sixth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA on a trailing 12-month basis is now $23.2 million and would have been approximately $28 million, excluding litigation expenses. Just as important, we swung to positive operating income of roughly $3 million compared with an operating loss a year ago, and we reached essentially breakeven at the bottom line, a swing of nearly $8 million from the net loss we reported in the same quarter last year. And it is turning into cash. We generated positive operating cash flow in the quarter. And with the UTG transaction and the deal cost that came with it now behind us, that cash flow is beginning to reflect the ongoing business we have built rather than the 2 years of transactions and repositioning it took to get there. The headline is that the trajectory for growth is unmistakable. That turnaround is what lets us be aggressive about creating value. We have taken total debt down from the peak of $218 million to roughly $145 million today, and we have a clear path to $108 million of gross debt by January of 2028 as the remaining $36.7 million of UTG proceeds are applied. We ended the quarter with approximately $37.1 million in total cash, including restricted cash, bringing our net debt down to $108 million and with our trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA of $28 million, excluding litigation expenses, bringing us to just under 4 turns of leverage. And we expect we will be under 3 turns of leverage once we have received the remaining UTG proceeds, a very manageable place moving forward. This quarter, we added a lever that we have not used at this scale before: a meaningful share repurchase. And here is why it matters. The shares we are buying back are essentially the same block we issued last year to convert debt into equity at a conversion price of roughly $1.75 a share. We agreed to repurchase approximately 16.6 million of them, nearly 15% of the total shares outstanding for the company at a fixed price of $1.05, below where we issued them and below where the stock trades today. And we are doing it in installments, backstopped by significant long-term stockholders, so it never competes with the cash we need to run and de-lever the business. We were also added to the Russell 2000 and the Russell 3000 in late June, which should broaden our ownership over time. Retiring debt over time and shrinking the share count at a discount are 2 of the most direct ways we can reward the shareholders who stay with us. Now the brand itself. We said we could put Playboy back at the center of culture and the proof is on the newsstands and in our feed. Our spring issue with Karol G sold out at newsstands and generated more than 5 billion media impressions and over 70 million video views around its launch. Our summer issue arrived with Cara Delevingne on the cover, 2 consecutive covers with talent that candidly would not have taken our calls a couple of years ago. And we already have 2 more major covers lined up for the back half of the year. Across our own platforms, we generated more than 1 billion engagements and views in the quarter, and we are leaning hard into the franchises our audience tell us they want most: the Playboy Interview, 20 Questions, and above all, more content built around our Playmates, where features like Miss June are crossing 1 million organic views on their own. Our editorial voice is the sharpest it has been in years. Our audience is growing at home and abroad, and our content calendar for the back half is the strongest we have had in a long time. Talent, press, and partners want to be associated with Playboy again, and that pull is the raw material for everything else we do. We also said that attention is worth little unless we own it and can monetize it directly. And this is a quarter that stopped being a slide and became a business we are actively building and testing in real time. Our site drew roughly 2 million unique visitors in the quarter, and the subscription we launched on playboy.com, live for its first full quarter, is converting. We are turning that traffic into paying memberships, and July was our strongest month yet. We are testing different price points, different content, and different conversion funnels, and we are being disciplined about it. As we continue to refine this, we will begin to spend to grow faster, and the early signs are exactly what we hope for: an anonymous audience becoming a known, addressable one that we can market to directly. Here is why we are investing behind this. We are building the media and experiences business over time into a high-margin, recurring, asset-light business, a meaningful driver of top-line growth with several revenue streams today generated from the same audience: subscriptions, sponsorships, paid voting and more. On the sponsorship side, we already have sponsors lined up for our short-form video content across social and editorial. And that revenue will begin to show in our third quarter results. And each piece feeds next. The magazine and our platforms create relevance. Relevance builds an audience we own. That audience subscribes, pays to vote, and attracts sponsors. And the scale and data behind the audience make our brand more valuable to every licensing partner we sit across from. That is what we mean when we call this a platform, not a slogan, but a set of businesses that compound one another. Paid voting is another proof point. Our first contest drew roughly 17,000 contestants. Our second, the model search we ran with Honey Birdette, drew nearly 50,000 and generated about 2.5x the revenue of the first. Because voting closed just after the quarter ended, none of those economics are in today's numbers. We will land -- those will land in the third quarter, and we are funneling that engaged audience straight into our digital subscription. Exactly the self-reinforcing cycle we are building. This is not a promotion. It is a franchise. We have 1 more major contest planned before year-end, our Great Playmate Search, and we hope to deliver even stronger results from what is a more compelling offer. We find by what we have learned each time. And the economics do not stop at voting. The Honey Birdette collaboration tied to the contest launches in September, adding a product revenue stream on top. On licensing, we said we would trade a long tail of small deals for fewer, bigger, better partners. In this quarter, that discipline is showing up in the quality of our partnerships. To lead that effort, we brought in Krystle Bach as our Vice President of Global Licensing and Partnerships. She joins us from Authentic Brands Group and brings a track record across Coach, Victoria's Secret, and Juicy Couture. The clearest example of this strategy is in apparel. We dramatically scaled back our largest apparel licensee, a major t-shirt and hoodie partner, and that decision opened the category for Missguided, one of our strongest partners to expand. Because we pulled back that other licensee, Missguided can invest behind the market without the two cannibalizing each other. We are now working with them to grow it into additional categories. Our Supreme collaboration, which sold out, was another standout. In China, our new partner, UTG, is off to a good start transitioning the business to an owner-operator strategy. Because of this transition, the small new deals that we historically signed were largely absent in the first and second quarters, a modest reduction of a couple hundred thousand dollars a quarter while the transition sets in. And across the segment, more than $320 million of contracted, not yet recognized, future licensing revenue gives this business both durability and runway. And Honey Birdette is doing exactly what we said it would. It grew double digits again with every region comping up. And this quarter's double-digit retail comp came on top of the double-digit comp a year ago. The engine is full-price selling and tight product discipline, carrying the right assortment in the right quantities, relying on markdowns far less than we used to. Our mid-year sale is an event we run every year. The difference now is that pent-up demand and full-price discipline lets us run shallower discounts and control the promotional narrative, rather than the ad hoc discounting we leaned on when comps were declining. Paired with a loyalty program that keeps deepening how often our best customers come back, June was the brand's strongest month ever. This is not a brand searching for a model. It is a brand compounding on one. Two more markers of where we are headed. In hospitality, we continue to make progress on our first new flagship Playboy Club in Miami, a franchise we intend to grow without risking our own capital. And we strengthened our board, adding Jennifer Cabalquinto, former Chief Financial Officer of 2K and the Golden State Warriors, as an independent director, adding public company financial and operating depth as we scale. And with that, let me turn it over to Marc to take you through the numbers. Marc Crossman: Thank you, Ben. Consolidated revenue in the second quarter grew to $31.2 million compared to $28.1 million in the second quarter of 2025, an increase of approximately $3.1 million, or 10.9% year-over-year. The increase was led by continued double-digit growth at Honey Birdette, with licensing also returning to year-over-year growth. Honey Birdette net revenue grew to $19.5 million, up 18% year-over-year from $16.5 million in the prior year quarter. On a like-for-like basis, total comparable stores grew 15%, with retail comps up 13% and online up 16%, and every region positive. For the second quarter, Honey Birdette has now delivered its seventh consecutive quarter of double-digit brick-and-mortar comparable sales stores growth and its fifth consecutive quarter of combined brick-and-mortar and online comparable store sales growth. Full-price selling continued to drive the mix, and product margin increased year-over-year, led by full-price sales and higher average selling prices. Licensing revenue was $11.2 million in the second quarter, up approximately 2% from $10.9 million in the prior year quarter, and would have been higher but for a modest step down of a couple hundred thousand dollars a quarter in China as our JV partner transitions the business. Growth in our rest of world business was led by our Supreme collaboration, which sold out, and by our Missguided partnership, which has been successful enough that we are now working to expand it into additional categories. Our Byborg strategic partnership contributed $5 million of digital licensing revenue in the quarter, consistent with the contractual minimum guarantee. Total selling and administrative expenses were $19.8 million in the quarter, down $2.6 million, or 12%, from $22.4 million in the prior year quarter. Put simply, we grew revenue 11% while reducing total operating costs, all while continuing to invest in content and media and experiences. As Ben noted, we view that brand spend as investment, not overhead. And this quarter, it began to show a return. Operating income was $3 million in the quarter compared with an operating loss of $5.9 million a year ago, a swing of nearly $9 million driven by higher revenue on lower cost base I just walked through. Below the operating line, net income was approximately $200,000, or break-even on a per-share basis, compared with a net loss of $7.7 million, or $0.08 per share, in the second quarter of 2025. Weighted average shares outstanding were 114.7 million. Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was $7 million, an increase of $3.5 million versus adjusted EBITDA of $3.5 million in the prior year quarter, effectively doubling for an adjusted EBITDA margin of 22%. This represents our sixth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. Turning to cash flow. We generated positive operating cash flow of approximately $2 million in the quarter. With the UTG transaction executed and its one-time costs now behind us, this figure reflects the ongoing operations of the business, a clean baseline for our cash generation going forward. On the balance sheet, we ended the quarter with $37.1 million in total cash, including restricted cash. Total debt was $144.9 million at quarter end, consistent with the end of the first quarter and down from $159.9 million at year end 2025, reflecting the $15 million pay down from the initial UTG proceeds earlier this year. Let me put the share repurchase in numbers. The block we agreed to repurchase is essentially the same stock we issued last year to convert debt into equity at a conversion price of roughly $1.75 per share. We're buying back approximately 16.6 million shares, nearly 15% of shares outstanding, at a fixed price of $1.05, or roughly $17 million in total, below where we issued it and below where the stock trades today. The repurchase is paid in installments. We paid $2 million on the effective date, and we plan on paying the next installment of $3 million on or before August 31 with cash from our balance sheet. Beyond the repurchase, nearly $37 million of forthcoming UTG proceeds remain earmarked for further debt reduction, which would bring our net debt well below $100 million. Between the shares we are retiring and the debt we intend to pay down, we are using a stronger balance sheet and a more profitable business to compound value on a per-share basis. That concludes my prepared remarks. Let me turn the call back to Ben. Ben Kohn: Thank you, Marc. I'll keep my closing brief because the financial results speak for themselves. None of this work is finished. Now that we have established a solid, profitable base, we are focusing on growth. We have a media platform still in its early stages, a subscription business we are testing and refining, a licensing pipeline to convert, a Playboy Club to open, and debt still to retire. But we have shown you this quarter that when we set out to do something, it shows up in the results. That we will build the newer businesses with the same discipline: test, lean into what works, and stay fiscally responsible. That is the standard we hold ourselves to and it is how we intend to keep creating value for our fellow shareholders. With that, operator, let us open the line for questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question is from JP Wollam with ROTH Capital Partners. John-Paul Wollam: A couple for you here. So maybe if we could start in terms of the licensing business, and it sounds like there's some nice movement with Missguided and kind of opening up the runway there for them. But as we think about all the different areas, I guess, are there anywhere else that you are thinking in the near term is sort of ripe for further licensee consolidation? And there are some big opportunities to hand it over to other partners like Missguided that are showing some early signs. And just as you think about, kind of, the next 12 months and, sort of, the P&L, like, are the biggest kind of growth engines and maybe changes there going to come from some more of this licensing consolidation? Or is it really going to be sort of the other media business that's driving some growth there? Ben Kohn: Hey JP, it's Ben. Look, we're very happy with where the licensing business is, and especially the pipeline that we have moving forward. The P&L growth is going to come from two things, right? Obviously, as we've talked about historically, we have a lot of white space, both from a geographical perspective and a category perspective, starting to get some real traction on the gaming side right now. And so that doesn't compete with existing licensees. There are certain markets that over time, and again, it's sort of a puzzle you're putting together because you have contractual obligations that you have to meet, both from the category perspective and the timing perspective. And that is coupled with a larger strategy, specifically bringing in like Krystle and the new team that we are bringing in to help us with that, that will just happen over time. We also want to be very sensitive that we are not taking down revenue or EBITDA from licensing business. We want to make sure that we're doing it in a very fiscally responsible way. As far as growth moving forward for the business, we think over time, the media and experiences business can be as large as the licensing business with a very similar profile. We are starting to see traction. I look at, for example, Miss July, and I look at that conversion funnel from social media posts to paying subscribers on our website or members. And we're starting to get better at that. We just brought in Radhika, who joined us two weeks ago, to really lead that effort on the digital side, and we're continuing to hire more people now that we've actually proven it out, right? So again, we have limited resources, we want to be really fiscally responsible. We tested something, we're seeing that it's worked, and now we're going to build a team to actually accelerate that growth moving forward. So I think growth will come from licensing. Again, licensing is more of a step function. I think on the digital side, it's a recurring revenue base, right? We're bringing people in. We bill them next year. And there's a lot of upside to that. And then on top of that, we've signed our first sponsorship deals for content. Paid voting was up roughly 2.5x from a revenue perspective versus the first contest. We have another one. And so it's multiple different revenue streams coming off, really, the same investment, which is the content side of it, which we have to do from a brand perspective, irrespective. John-Paul Wollam: Great. That makes a lot of sense. Switching over maybe on Honey Birdette, I don't think you had touched on it. You provided some good detail on just, kind of, some of the strength there. But I know we've talked in the past about deploying capital for some additional units. So could you just share any updates there? How are you thinking about timing? I think maybe around 5 units was kind of what you guys were thinking in the past, but could you just provide us any update in terms of additional brick-and-mortar at Honey Birdette? Ben Kohn: Yes, look, the business is doing great. The product is speaking to the consumer. We are actively looking for other brick-and-mortars, but there's multiple different ways to grow, including e-commerce, which doesn't require the CapEx that brick-and-mortar does. In an ideal world, we would open 5 more stores. We just want to make sure that those stores maintain the same margin profile that our existing stores do in the United States. Rents are expensive right now. And so we're being very, very selective in where we go, making sure it's the right market, coupled with the right economics. We don't want to open a store to have to decrease our margin profile moving forward. So, in the interim, we will focus on e-commerce, and the business continues to perform really well. John-Paul Wollam: Great. And then just the last one for me, a little bit more in terms of the capital allocation question. Marc provided the update in terms of the second payment of the share repurchase for August, but as we think about, kind of, the remaining, I think that would put it at about $5 million of the $17 million. So just as we think about, kind of, that remaining $12 million, how aggressive do you want to be with that entire repurchase versus sort of balancing where debt sits today and understanding that the repurchase is kind of backstopped by some of your strong partners. But how aggressive or, sort of, how optimistic, I guess, are you that you will take down the, sort of, entirety of that share repurchase? Ben Kohn: Yes, so the first $2 million we funded. The second $3 million we'll fund from cash on our balance sheet. As Marc stated, we have $37 million of cash -- of total cash, restricted cash on our balance sheet today. The great thing about the way we structured the deal is we have a backstop from our two largest partners. Obviously, in the ideal world, for the rest of the shareholders, you would reduce the full share count to 16.6 million, and return those shares to treasury. And that's what we plan on doing today. Obviously, can't predict the future, but that is our plan today. As far as debt, we have approximately $145 million today, right? We have $36.7 million of future earmarked UTG payments that will take our debt down to $108 million. So you take $108 million, you take off $37 million of cash and cash equivalents, right? And the balance sheet's in a really good place from a net debt perspective. And so we'll continue to monitor what's the best return for our shareholders moving forward and do everything we can to try to create shareholder value. Operator: Our next question is from James Heaney with Jefferies LLC. James Heaney: Just kind of looking at the direct-to-consumer segment, I think this was actually 18%. I think that's the fastest growth rate we've seen in the segment since 2022. So, obviously, a big breakthrough there. Maybe just talk about where you saw, kind of, the most strength. Like, what was the primary reason for that re-acceleration, and then just try to help us understand the sustainability of growth in that segment, and maybe if there's any, kind of, near to medium-term, sort of, growth expectations would be helpful. And then I have one more. Marc Crossman: Okay. Hey, it's Marc. Appreciate that question. On the Honey Birdette side, yes, we had another strong comp-on-comp at the retail business. Really what we're seeing, though, is a strength in the online business. And that's where it's been the last piece to turn, and we're seeing that turn predominantly in the U.S. market, but across all markets. So it's really online, as Ben had touched on, that's reigniting growth. And I think that's where obviously comps become a little more difficult on retail as you start triple comping. But online, there is plenty of room for us to continue to grow and comp. James Heaney: Great. And then my second one was just around, I mean, you've made a lot of key leadership hires, even in the last month, but just broadly over the last year across licensing, consumer goods, obviously, the media and brand side. I'm just hoping you could talk about the significance of these hires and, kind of, what the key growth areas are for each of these leaders, and just if there's going to be any other kind of changes to the organization as they kind of implement their strategies. Ben Kohn: Thanks, James. Yes, look, we're only as good as our weakest link. And when we did this restructuring a few years ago with a clear business plan that we've been executing on, now that we're in a place that we can actually reinvest in the business, we're bringing in the right talent to actually grow those businesses and monetize them, right? So David Miller joined us, who had built the digital business and the licensing business for Nat Geo, great Disney experience before that, AOL. He's come in, and I think he's done a great job and is now hiring the team underneath him with Krystle, with Radhika, with Phillip, and more, to actually execute on those businesses. Look, if we do it right, then over time, as I said, the media and experiences business should be as large, if not larger, from a revenue perspective compared to our licensing business. And based on how we have it set up, it can be extremely profitable as well. We will continue to add talent based on making sure, 1, we stay really disciplined with hiring the right people, and 2, that the business from a growth perspective warrants the cost of bringing on additional talents. So as we sort of said in the prepared remarks, we're testing, we're iterating, and we're leaning more into what works and abandoning what doesn't work. And so we'll continue to take that fiscal discipline moving forward as we build out the team. The other area that we've highlighted is the hospitality side, and we're making progress on bringing that Playboy Mansion to life. And we'll have more to talk about that in the future as things continue to progress on that. Obviously, to the extent we do get that off the ground, we'll need to bring in someone to help us on the hospitality side as well. But the way we're setting up that deal is really as a licensing deal, so we're not taking capital risk ourselves. Operator: We have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. We'd like to turn the floor back over to Ben Kohn for closing comments. Ben Kohn: Thank you, operator. I just want to thank everyone who listened for joining today for our Q2 results and look forward to talking to you in the fall when we report our Q3 results. Thank you. Operator: This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation. Before you buy stock in PLBY Group, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and PLBY Group wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $421,511!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,381,960!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 981% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 216% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 17, 2026. This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Playboy (PLBY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Revenue: $31.2 million, up 10.9% year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA: Approximately $7 million, nearly double the prior year, including over $700,000 in litigation expenses. Operating Income: Positive $3 million, compared to an operating loss of $5.9 million a year ago. Net Income: Approximately $200,000, or break-even on a per-share basis, versus a net loss of $7.7 million in the prior year quarter. Honey Birdette Revenue: $19.5 million, up 18% year-over-year. Honey Birdette Comparable Store Sales: Total comparable stores grew 15%, with retail comps up 13% and online up 16%. Licensing Revenue: $11.2 million, up approximately 2% year-over-year. Selling and Administrative Expenses: $19.8 million, down 12% from $22.4 million in the prior year quarter. Operating Cash Flow: Positive approximately $2 million in the quarter. Total Cash: $37.1 million, including restricted cash. Total Debt: $144.9 million at quarter end, down from $159.9 million at year-end 2025. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with PLBY. Is PLBY fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: August 10, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Revenue grew approximately 11% year-over-year to $31.2 million, with adjusted EBITDA nearly doubling to $7 million. Achieved sixth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA and swung to positive operating income of $3 million. Reduced total debt from a peak of $218 million to $145 million, with a clear path to $108 million by January 2028. Honey Birdette delivered double-digit growth with a 15% like-for-like comparable store sales increase and strong full-price selling. Launched a share repurchase program to buy back 16.6 million shares at $1.05, below the conversion price, enhancing shareholder value. Licensing revenue growth was modest at 2% due to a transition in China, with a reduction of a couple hundred thousand dollars per quarter. The company incurred over $700,000 in litigation expenses during the quarter, impacting adjusted EBITDA. The share repurchase program requires installment payments, with $3 million due by August 31, potentially straining cash flow. Honey Birdette's growth is partly dependent on online sales, which may face challenges as retail comps become more difficult. The media and experiences business is still in early stages, with subscription and sponsorship revenues not yet fully scaled. Q: Can you provide an update on the licensing business and where you see the biggest growth engines coming from over the next 12 months? A: Ben Kohn (CEO): We are very happy with the licensing business and the pipeline moving forward. Growth will come from two areas: geographical and category white space, particularly in gaming, which doesn't compete with existing licensees. We are being fiscally responsible to not take down revenue or EBITDA from licensing. Over time, we believe the media and experiences business can be as large as licensing with a similar profile. We are seeing traction in converting social media audiences to paying subscribers, and we are building the team to accelerate that growth. Licensing growth is more of a step function, while digital is a recurring revenue base with significant upside. Q: What are your plans for additional brick-and-mortar stores at Honey Birdette, and how are you thinking about timing and capital deployment? A: Ben Kohn (CEO): The business is doing great, and we are actively looking for new locations. However, we are being very selective to ensure new stores maintain the same margin profile as existing U.S. stores, especially given expensive rents. We don't want to open stores that decrease our margin profile. In the interim, we will focus on e-commerce, which doesn't require the same CapEx, and the business continues to perform really well. Q: How aggressive do you plan to be with the remaining share repurchase, and how are you balancing that with the debt position? A: Ben Kohn (CEO): We funded the first $2 million and will fund the next $3 million from cash on hand. The deal is structured with a backstop from our two largest partners. Our plan is to reduce the full 16.6 million shares and return them to treasury. Regarding debt, we have $145 million today, with $36.7 million in future UTG payments earmarked to bring it down to $108 million. With $37 million in cash, the balance sheet is in a good place from a net debt perspective. We will continue to monitor the best return for shareholders. Q: The direct-to-consumer segment saw its fastest growth since 2022. What drove the re-acceleration, and how sustainable is this growth? A: Marc Crossman (CFO/COO): The strength is coming from the online business, which has been the last piece to turn, predominantly in the U.S. market but across all markets. Online is reigniting growth. While retail comps become more difficult as we triple comp, online has plenty of room to continue growing and comping. Q: Can you discuss the significance of the recent key leadership hires and what the key growth areas are for each of them? A: Ben Kohn (CEO): We are only as good as our weakest link. Now that we are in a position to reinvest, we are bringing in the right talent to grow and monetize the businesses. David Miller, who built the digital and licensing business for Nat Geo, is hiring a team underneath him, including Krystle, Radhika, and Philip. If done right, the media and experiences business should be as large, if not larger, than licensing and extremely profitable. We will continue to add talent based on fiscal discipline and business growth. We are also making progress on the hospitality side with the Playboy Mansion, structured as a licensing deal to avoid capital risk. Q: Can you provide more detail on the strength of the Honey Birdette business and the factors driving its performance? A: Ben Kohn (CEO): Honey Birdette grew double digits again with every region comping up. The engine is full-price selling and tight product discipline, carrying the right assortment and relying less on markdowns. The mid-year sale ran with shallower discounts, and paired with the loyalty program, June was the brand's strongest month ever. This is a brand compounding on a successful model. Q: What is the current state of the balance sheet and the company's leverage position? A: Marc Crossman (CFO/COO): We ended the quarter with $37.1 million in total cash, including restricted cash. Total debt was $144.9 million, down from $159.9 million at year-end 2025. Net debt is $108 million, and with trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA of $28 million excluding litigation expenses, leverage is just under four turns. We expect to be under three turns once we receive the remaining UTG proceeds. Q: Can you elaborate on the performance of the media and experiences business, particularly the subscription and paid voting initiatives? A: Ben Kohn (CEO): The subscription launched on playboy.com is converting, with July being the strongest month yet. We are testing price points and conversion funnels. Paid voting is another proof point: our first contest drew 17,000 contestants, and the second with Honey Birdette drew nearly 50,000, generating 2.5 times the revenue. Those economics will land in the third quarter. We are funneling this engaged audience into our digital subscription, creating a self-reinforcing cycle. We have another major contest planned before year-end. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Management attributed the swing to positive operating income to a disciplined shift toward an asset-light model focused on licensing, media, and hospitality. The brand's cultural relevance was restored by securing high-profile talent for covers, which management claims has reopened doors to previously inaccessible partners. Performance was driven by a 'self-reinforcing cycle' where editorial content builds an owned audience that is then monetized through subscriptions, voting, and sponsorships. Honey Birdette's double-digit growth was fueled by full-price selling discipline and a reduction in ad hoc discounting, leading to the brand's strongest month ever in June. Licensing strategy shifted from a 'long tail' of small deals to fewer, higher-quality partnerships, exemplified by scaling back a major apparel licensee to allow Missguided to expand. Management emphasized that the business has moved from a period of heavy transaction and repositioning costs to a clean baseline of positive operating cash flow. Management expects to reach under 3 turns of leverage by January 2028 as the remaining $36.7 million in UTG proceeds are applied to debt reduction. The media and experiences segment is projected to eventually match the licensing business in scale and margin profile as digital subscriptions and sponsorships ramp up. Future growth in licensing is expected to come from 'white space' opportunities in new geographies and categories like gaming. The company plans to launch a 'Great Playmate Search' contest before year-end, aiming to exceed the revenue performance of previous paid voting events. Hospitality expansion will focus on a flagship Playboy Club in Miami, utilizing a licensing model to avoid risking corporate capital. The company initiated a 16.6 million share repurchase at $1.05 per share, representing nearly 15% of outstanding shares, to retire equity previously issued for debt conversion. China licensing revenue saw a modest step down of a couple hundred thousand dollars per quarter as partner UTG transitions to an owner-operator strategy. Adjusted EBITDA included over $700,000 in litigation expenses, which management highlighted to show underlying profitability of $28 million on a trailing 12-month basis. The board was strengthened with the addition of Jennifer Cabalquinto to provide public company financial and operating depth during the scaling phase. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Ben Kohn clarified that while they are consolidating apparel licensees, growth will primarily come from untapped categories like gaming and geographical expansion. He noted that media growth is a recurring revenue play, whereas licensing growth tends to occur in 'step functions' as new deals are signed. Management is targeting approximately 5 new store openings but remains selective due to high rent costs and a desire to maintain existing margin profiles. In the interim, the company is prioritizing e-commerce growth, which requires less capital expenditure than physical retail. The repurchase is structured in installments to avoid competing with operational cash needs, with the first $5 million funded by the end of August. The program is backstopped by the company's two largest shareholders, providing a safety net for the planned retirement of the full 16.6 million share block. Marc Crossman attributed the 18% DTC growth to a turnaround in the online business, particularly in the U.S. market. Management believes there is significant 'room to grow and comp' online even as retail store comparisons become more difficult.

Interested in PLBY Group, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. PLBY Group returned to profitability in Q2: Revenue rose 10.9% year over year to $31.2 million, adjusted EBITDA doubled to $7 million, operating income reached $3 million, and operating cash flow was approximately $2 million. Honey Birdette was the main growth driver, with revenue up 18% to $19.5 million and double-digit comparable-sales growth across retail and online channels. Licensing also returned to growth, supported by collaborations including Supreme and Missguided. PLBY is focused on deleveraging and expanding recurring revenue: The company expects additional UTG proceeds to reduce debt, while media subscriptions, sponsorships and paid contests are being developed; it also agreed to repurchase nearly 15% of outstanding shares for about $17 million. PLBY Group Stock is Speculative Collectibles Play Riding the NFT Hype Train PLBY Group (NASDAQ:PLBY) reported second-quarter revenue growth, a return to operating profitability and positive operating cash flow, as the company cited continued momentum at Honey Birdette, growth in licensing and early progress in its media and experiences strategy. Revenue for the quarter totaled approximately $31.2 million, up 10.9% from $28.1 million in the second quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $7 million from $3.5 million a year earlier, producing a 22% adjusted EBITDA margin and marking the company’s sixth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. → MarketBeat Week in Review – 08/03 - 08/07 Operating income was approximately $3 million, compared with an operating loss of $5.9 million in the prior-year period. Net income was about $200,000, or break-even on a per-share basis, versus a net loss of $7.7 million, or $0.08 per share, a year earlier. The company generated roughly $2 million of positive operating cash flow during the quarter. Honey Birdette revenue increased 18% year over year to $19.5 million, compared with $16.5 million in the prior-year quarter. The lingerie brand recorded 15% total comparable sales growth, including a 13% increase in retail comparable sales and a 16% increase online. Every region posted positive comparable sales, according to Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Marc Crossman. → Quantum Earnings Week: Winners and Losers Are Finally Emerging Crossman said the business benefited from full-price selling, higher average selling prices and improved product margins. Honey Birdette has now delivered seven consecutive quarters of double-digit brick-and-mortar comparable-store sales growth and five consecutive quarters of double-digit combined retail and online comparable sales growth. During the question-and-answer session, Crossman said online sales have become an increasingly important source of growth, particularly in the U.S. market. CEO Ben Kohn said the company is evaluating opportunities to open additional stores but is being selective because of high rents and the need to preserve store-level margins. He said e-commerce provides another avenue for growth without the capital expenditures associated with physical locations. → Take-Two’s Q1 Results Leave GTA 6 Bulls Stuck in the Fog of War Licensing revenue rose approximately 2% to $11.2 million from $10.9 million in the prior-year quarter. The company said growth was partially offset by a reduction of a couple hundred thousand dollars per quarter in China as its joint-venture partner, UTG, transitions the business to an owner-operator structure. PLBY cited its sold-out Supreme collaboration and an expanding relationship with Missguided as contributors to licensing performance. Kohn said the company scaled back one major apparel licensee, enabling Missguided to invest more heavily in the market and potentially expand into additional categories. The company also said its Byborg strategic partnership contributed $5 million of digital licensing revenue during the quarter, consistent with the contractual minimum guarantee. PLBY reported more than $320 million of contracted licensing revenue that has not yet been recognized. Kohn told analysts that licensing growth could come from geographic and category “white space,” including gaming, while emphasizing that the company intends to avoid reducing existing licensing revenue or EBITDA as it consolidates partnerships. He said licensing could generate growth in steps as new agreements are signed, while digital media is intended to build a recurring revenue base. The company continued to invest in media and experiences, reporting approximately 2 million unique visitors to playboy.com during the quarter. Kohn said the subscription service launched on the site completed its first full quarter and that July was its strongest month to date. The company is testing pricing, content and conversion funnels before increasing spending behind subscriber growth. PLBY also said it has signed its first sponsorship agreements for short-form video content across social and editorial channels, with related revenue expected to begin appearing in third-quarter results. The company’s second paid-voting contest, a model search conducted with Honey Birdette, attracted nearly 50,000 contestants and generated about 2.5 times the revenue of its first contest. Because voting closed after the end of the second quarter, the associated revenue was not included in the reported results and is expected to be recognized in the third quarter. A Honey Birdette collaboration associated with the contest is scheduled to launch in September. Kohn said PLBY plans another major contest before year-end, the Great Playmate Search. He also cited the company’s spring issue featuring Karol G and summer issue featuring Cara Delevingne as signs of renewed brand visibility. PLBY ended the quarter with $37.1 million in total cash, including restricted cash, and $144.9 million of total debt. Debt was unchanged from the end of the first quarter but down from $159.9 million at the end of 2025, reflecting a $15 million repayment using initial UTG proceeds. The company expects an additional $36.7 million of UTG proceeds to be directed toward debt reduction, which management said would reduce gross debt to about $108 million by January 2028. Kohn said the company expects leverage to fall below three times after receiving the remaining proceeds. PLBY also agreed to repurchase approximately 16.6 million shares, or nearly 15% of its outstanding shares, for $1.05 per share, representing roughly $17 million in total. The repurchase is being completed in installments. The company paid $2 million on the effective date and plans to make a $3 million payment on or before Aug. 31. Separately, PLBY said it continues to advance plans for a new flagship Playboy Club in Miami under a structure intended to avoid the company taking capital risk. The company also added Jennifer Cabalquinto, former CFO of 2K and the Golden State Warriors, as an independent director. PLBY Group, Inc is a global media and lifestyle company best known for its iconic Playboy brand. The company operates across multiple business segments, including consumer products, licensing, subscription commerce, sexual wellness and digital offerings. Through its diversified portfolio, PLBY Group brings its signature aesthetic and brand heritage to categories such as apparel, accessories, gaming, beverages, home goods and intimate lifestyle products. In the consumer products segment, PLBY Group designs and markets a range of branded goods under licensing agreements with major retailers and distributors worldwide. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "PLBY Group Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

Second Quarter Revenue of $31.2 Million, an Increase of 11%; Net Income of $0.2 Million, an Improvement of $7.9 Million; and Adjusted EBITDA of $7.0 Million, an Increase of 100% and Inclusive of $0.7 Million of Litigation Expenses in the Quarter LOS ANGELES, Aug. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Playboy, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLBY) (the “Company” or “Playboy”), a global pleasure and leisure company connecting consumers with products, content, and experiences that help them lead happier, more fulfilling lives, today announced financial and operational results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2026. Financial Summary Second Quarter 2026 & Recent Operational Highlights Playboy licensing revenue remains highly predictable and recurring, with approximately 91% of fiscal year 2026 licensing revenue supported by contractual guarantees and more than $320 million in unrecognized future revenue. Honey Birdette delivered 18.2% year-over-year sales growth in the second quarter of 2026, with gross margin of 65.1%. Comparable store sales grew 15%, with positive comparable store sales growth in all regions and through all channels. The Company grew total cash, including restricted cash, by approximately $2.5 million during the second quarter reflecting ongoing operations of the business, in contrast to the first quarter, which included significant one-time closing costs incurred in connection with the new China JV transaction. Opened fan voting in the Company’s global model search collaboration between Playboy and Honey Birdette that attracted nearly 50,000, or three times the number of contestants, and approximately two and a half times the revenue as the Company’s prior contest. The latest contest’s economics are not included in the second quarter results because the contest did not end until August. Announced agreement to repurchase 16.6 million shares of common stock, representing nearly 14% of the Company’s outstanding shares, at a fixed price of $1.05 per share, a 28% discount to market value at the time of transaction, and supported by a backstop agreement with two significant stockholders. Playboy joined the small-cap Russell 2000® Index and the broad-market Russell 3000® Index in connection with the conclusion of the 2026 Russell indexes reconstitution, which the Company believes may increase its visibility within the institutional investment community, broaden its shareholder base and enhance trading liquidity. Management Commentary Ben Kohn, Chief Executive Officer of Playboy, commented, “The second quarter demonstrated that the platform we have built is compounding, with continued revenue growth, our sixth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA, and decisive steps to create shareholder value. Our agreement to repurchase Fortress’s entire 16.6 million-share position, nearly 14% of our shares outstanding, at a 28% discount to market value at the time of the transaction is immediately accretive to stockholders, and we structured the payments to preserve balance sheet flexibility that supports our deleveraging plan. “Our brand engine continues to gain momentum. Following our sold-out Spring 2026 issue starring Karol G, we revealed Cara Delevingne as our Summer 2026 cover star, and another paid-voting contest, in collaboration with Honey Birdette, attracted nearly 50,000 contestants, nearly three times our prior contest. Our licensing foundation remains highly predictable, anchored by contractual guarantees and more than $320 million in unrecognized future licensing revenue, while Honey Birdette continues to grow with strong gross margins. “Joining the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes at the end of June reflects the meaningful progress we have made in strengthening Playboy’s operating performance and balance sheet. With a clear path to further debt reduction and a content engine that keeps Playboy at the center of culture, we are executing from a position of strength as we work to deliver sustainable, long-term value for my fellow stockholders,” concluded Kohn. Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results Total revenue grew 11% to $31.2 million, compared to $28.1 million in the second quarter of 2025. The increase in revenue was primarily due to continued strong performance of Honey Birdette. Direct-to-consumer revenue was $19.5 million, up 18.2% from the $16.5 million in the second quarter of 2025. The increase was driven by stronger than expected growth both online and in stores, with higher gross margins. Licensing revenue was $11.2 million, compared to $10.9 million in the second quarter of 2025, reflecting a year-over-year increase of $0.2 million, or 2.2%. The change was primarily due to the Company’s continued repositioning of its licensing business around fewer, larger partners. Operating expenses were $28.2 million, a decrease of 17.0% from $34.0 million in the second quarter of 2025. The decrease is due largely to the prior year comparative period having a $2.4 million non-recurring settlement with a licensing agent, $1.5 million in impairment charges related to right-of-use assets, and lower personnel and legal expenses in the second quarter of 2026. Net income was $0.2 million, or less than a cent per share, compared to a net loss of $7.7 million, or $(0.08) per share, in the second quarter of 2025. The improvement is due to continued revenue growth and a focus on operating efficiencies. Adjusted EBITDA was $7.0 million, an increase of 100% from adjusted EBITDA of $3.5 million in the second quarter of 2025. Excluding litigation expenses, adjusted EBITDA would have been $7.7 million. As of June 30, 2026, the Company had $37.1 million in total cash. Conference Call Management will host an investor conference call at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, August 10, 2026, to discuss the Company’s second quarter 2026 financial results, provide a corporate update, and conclude with taking questions from telephone participants. To participate, please use the following information: Q2 2026 Earnings Conference Call Date: Monday, August 10, 2026Time: 5:00 p.m. Eastern timeU.S. Dial-in: 1-877-423-9813International Dial-in: 1-201-689-8573Conference ID: 13761740Webcast: https://viavid.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1769724&tp_key=2ae57247c3Please join at least five minutes before the start of the call to ensure timely participation. A telephone playback of the call will be available through Thursday, September 10, 2026. To listen, please call 1-844-512-2921, using replay pin number 13761740. A webcast replay will be available using the webcast link above. About Playboy, Inc. Playboy (Nasdaq: PLBY) is a global pleasure and leisure company, built on one of the most globally recognized brands. By leveraging its iconic intellectual property, Playboy pursues an asset-light model across licensing, digital content, consumer products and experiential offerings, helping consumers worldwide to live more fulfilling lives. To learn more, please visit https://investors.playboy.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company’s actual results may differ from their expectations, estimates, and projections and, consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as “expect”, “estimate”, “project”, “budget”, “forecast”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “plan”, “may”, “will”, “could”, “should”, “believes”, “predicts”, “potential”, “continue”, and similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the Company’s expectations with respect to future performance, growth plans and anticipated financial impacts of its strategic opportunities and corporate transactions. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (1) the inability to maintain the listing of the Company’s shares of common stock on Nasdaq; (2) the risk that the Company’s completed or proposed transactions disrupt the Company’s current plans and/or operations, including the risk that the Company does not complete any such proposed transactions or achieve the expected benefits from any transactions; (3) the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of corporate transactions, commercial collaborations, cost reduction initiatives and proposed transactions, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, the ability of the Company to grow and manage growth profitably, and the Company’s ability to retain its key employees; (4) costs related to being a public company, corporate transactions, commercial collaborations and proposed transactions; (5) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (6) the possibility that the Company may be adversely affected by global hostilities, supply chain delays, inflation, interest rates, tariffs, foreign currency exchange rates or other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; (7) risks relating to the uncertainty of the projected financial information of the Company, including changes in the Company’s estimates of cash flows and the fair value of certain of its intangible assets, including goodwill; (8) risks related to the organic and inorganic growth of the Company’s businesses, and the timing of expected business milestones; (9) changing demand or shopping patterns for the Company’s products and services; (10) failure of licensees, suppliers or other third-parties to fulfill their obligations to the Company; (11) the Company’s high concentration of licensing revenue from a small number of licensees; (12) the Company’s ability to comply with the terms of its indebtedness and other obligations; (13) changes in financing markets or the inability of the Company to obtain financing on attractive terms; and (14) other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, including those under “Risk Factors” therein, and in the Company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive, and readers should not place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date which they were made. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based. Investor Relations Contact:Lucas A. ZimmermanManaging DirectorMZ Group - MZ North America+1 (949) [email protected] or [email protected] Public Relations Contact: [email protected] Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation This press release presents the financial measure earnings (net income or loss) before interest, income tax expense or benefit, and depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”). “Adjusted EBITDA” is defined as EBITDA adjusted for stock-based compensation and other special items determined by management. Adjusted EBITDA is intended as a supplemental measure of the Company’s performance that is neither required by, nor presented in accordance with, GAAP. The Company believes that the use of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA provides an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing our financial measures with those of comparable companies, which may present similar non-GAAP financial measures to investors. However, investors should be aware that when evaluating EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, the Company may incur future expenses similar to those excluded when calculating these measures. In addition, the Company’s presentation of these measures should not be construed as an inference that its future results will be unaffected by unusual or nonrecurring items. The Company’s computation of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures computed by other companies, because not all companies calculate Adjusted EBITDA in the same fashion. In addition to adjusting for non-cash stock-based compensation, non-cash charges for the fair value remeasurements of certain liabilities, non-recurring non-cash impairments and asset write-downs, the Company typically adjusts for non-operating expenses and income, such as nonrecurring special projects, including related consulting expenses, transition expenses, settlements, nonrecurring gain or loss on the sale of assets, expenses associated with financing activities, and reorganization and severance expenses that result from the elimination or rightsizing of specific business activities or operations. Because of these limitations, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for performance measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. The Company compensates for these limitations by relying primarily on our GAAP results and using EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA on a supplemental basis. Investors should review the reconciliation of net loss to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA below and not rely on any single financial measure to evaluate the Company’s business. The following table reconciles the Company’s net income (loss) to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA:

Image source: The Motley Fool. Monday, May 11, 2026 at 5 p.m. ET Chief Executive Officer — Ben Kohn Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer — Marc Crossman Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email [email protected] Operator: Good afternoon. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Playboy Inc.'s First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] This conference is being recorded today, May 11, 2026, and the earnings press release and Form 10-Q from which information may be referenced during this call were issued after the market closed today. On our call today are Playboy Inc.'s Chief Executive Officer, Ben Kohn; and Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Marc Crossman. I would like to remind you that the information discussed today is qualified in its entirety by the Form 8-K and Form 10-Q filed today by Playboy Inc., which may be accessed on SEC's website and on Playboy Inc.'s website. Please note that statements made during this call, financial projections and other statements that are not historical in nature may constitute forward-looking statements. Such statements are made on the basis of Playboy Inc.'s views and assumptions regarding future events and business performance at the time they are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update them. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, which could cause the company's actual results to differ from its historical results and forecast, including those risks set forth in the SEC filings, and you should refer to and carefully consider those for more information. This cautionary statement applies to all forward-looking statements made during this call. Do not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. In addition, throughout today's call, the company may refer to adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, which it believes provides helpful information to investors about the performance of the business on an ongoing basis. A reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is included in today's earnings release, which is available on the Playboy Inc. Investor Relations website. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Playboy's Chief Executive Officer, Ben Kohn. Ben, the floor is yours. Ben Kohn: Thank you, operator, and thank you to everyone for joining us today. Welcome to our first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. When we spoke in March, I told you 2025 was the year we largely completed Playboy's transformation into a focused, high-margin asset-light platform focused on 4 verticals: licensing, media and experiences, hospitality and Honey Birdette. I want to use my time this afternoon to walk you through what that platform produced in Q1 2026 because that was the quarter where that strategy showed up as visible, tangible progress across almost every part of the business as well as why we're excited about meaningful growth going forward. Headline first, and then we'll get into the substance. Consolidated revenue grew to approximately $30.2 million, up from $28.9 million a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA was approximately $5 million, up 111% compared to the prior year, marking our fifth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. Excluding litigation expenses, adjusted EBITDA would have been approximately $5.8 million. We closed the UTG China transaction, paid down $15 million of debt, reducing our gross debt to $145 million and plan to further delever by almost $37 million more from future UTG payments, which will bring our net debt well below $100 million. Honey Birdette grew top line double digits with full price sales accelerating, gross product margin expanding and adjusted EBITDA margins continuing to improve. Given the operational improvements and part of our larger business plan, we have also started terminating or nonrenewing licensees that do not fit with that plan so that we may bring on fewer and bigger licensees that better fit the Playboy brand. During Q1, we made key hires to reinvigorate our growth. David Miller joined as President of Media and Brand and Phillip Picardi joined as Chief Brand Officer and Editor-in-Chief. David has taken direct ownership of the consumer-facing platform, the website, the Media and Experiences business and the day-to-day alignment between content, commerce and licensing. Phillip is reshaping the editorial voice of Playboy, journalism, photography and cultural authority at a level the brand has not operated at in a long time. The clearest proof point is Phillip's first issue, the Spring 2026 magazine. Our cover star was Karol G, one of the most followed artists in the world with more than 70 million Instagram followers. We generated more than 3 billion media impressions, over 40 million video views across social platforms and the earned media value was in the tens of millions of dollars. The issue puts Playboy back at the center of culture, speaking to the value of the magazine brings to the company. This is not a one-off. We have 2 other major celebrity covers lined up following Karol G and the editorial calendar for the balance of 2026 continues to get stronger by the day. When artists of this caliber and the photographers, stylists and writers who work with them actively want to be on the cover of Playboy, that tells you the brand health is real. And practically, it is the engine that pulls audience onto our platform and the value into our licensing conversations. Under David's leadership, we launched a preliminary subscription offering for both digital and print content, executing on the architecture we have been describing to investors for more than a year. Free content drives top-of-funnel audience, premium content and member experiences sit behind the paywall. We will continue to add utility, event access, exclusive drops, community features as we scale playboy.com through the balance of 2026. Building upon our first paid voting contest, the Great Playmate Search, which drove more than 1.7 million votes from over 17,000 contestants, we recently launched our next model search contest, a collaboration between Playboy and Honey Birdette. This is the second paid voting contest we have taken to market. It is a brand collaboration between our 2 largest assets, and the winner becomes the face of a global advertising campaign and is featured in the Playboy quarterly magazine with a $100,000 prize. It is also a revenue and audience engine. Every vote is a paid engagement, registration runs through June 8 and voting closes July 31. Two weeks into the contest registration, we are on track to exceed 30,000 contestants, a significant improvement from our last contest. Paid voting has the potential to become a real revenue lever for us. We will continue to layer it into additional programs throughout the year. Now that UTG has closed and our balance sheet is in a good place, we are proactively optimizing our Rest of World licensing business, not renewing off-brand licensees and creating new white space as we align our content strategy with our licensing business under David's leadership. This continues the strategy we have been describing, fewer, bigger, high-quality partners focused on a consistent global brand. With Q1, Honey Birdette has now delivered 6 consecutive quarters of double-digit brick-and-mortar comparable store sales growth and 4 consecutive quarters of combined brick-and-mortar and online comparable store sales growth. Valentine's Day 2026 was Honey Birdette's best yet. The multi-piece full price strategy is working. Our Valentine's assortment all drove record average order values or AOV weeks. Our Honey Birdette Club loyalty program, which we launched in mid-October has now crossed 110,000 members. And in early Q2, the Addison Leopard launch has already set the tone, our best-performing launch of 2026 so far. The U.S., now Honey Birdette's largest market, led the quarter. Retail and online both expanded and the U.S. store base was nearly unanimously positive on a like-for-like basis. The U.S. economics are clear. U.S. stores are meaningfully more productive and profitable than their counterparts in any other region with 4-wall adjusted EBITDA margins at approximately 40%. With that profile in mind, we have redesigned the future of the Honey Birdette stores, reducing our future build-out costs by almost 40%, which will significantly increase our ROI. We have received great interest from third parties in our capital raise efforts at Honey Birdette, and we intend to open 5 new Honey Birdette stores in top-tier U.S. malls over the next 12 months. These are the highest return investments available to us anywhere in the Honey Birdette portfolio, and they clearly fit with our existing capital plan. So when I look at Q1 2026, I see a quarter of not only execution against our 4 pillars licensing, media and experiences, hospitality and Honey Birdette, but also the groundwork laid for substantial growth in the future. It starts with bringing in the right leaders, putting Playboy back in the cultural conversation with Karol G on the cover and 2 more major names lined up behind her, launching a new subscription offering, building momentum with a new paid voting contest, closing the UTG transaction as well as 5 other new licensing deals, creating a clear path to further delever the company, continuing to make progress on the new Playboy Club in Miami and further growing the Honey Birdette business 15% year-over-year. Every one of those is a decision, not a headline. And taken together, they give us real compounding momentum as we move forward. With that, I'll hand the call over to Marc to walk through the financial details. Marc Crossman: Thank you, Ben. Consolidated revenue in the first quarter grew to $30.2 million compared to $28.9 million in the first quarter of 2025, an increase of $1.4 million or 5% year-over-year. The year-over-year increase was led by strong Honey Birdette performance. Honey Birdette net revenue grew to $18.8 million, up 15.4% year-over-year. Retail delivered double-digit comp store growth across every region. With Q1, Honey Birdette has now delivered 6 consecutive quarters of double-digit brick-and-mortar comparable store sales growth and 4 consecutive quarters of consolidated brick-and-mortar and online comparable store sales growth. Full price sell-through drove the quarter. Full price sales were up 23% year-over-year. EBITDA margins at Honey Birdette continue to improve. I'd like to spend a moment on the U.S. specifically because that is where we see the most attractive incremental return on capital. Our U.S. stores are running at approximately twice the sales productivity of the rest of our portfolio of stores and approximately 3x the per store profitability. 4-wall margins in the U.S. were approximately 40% in the quarter. With those economics in mind, we intend to open 5 new Honey Birdette stores in top-tier U.S. malls over the next 12 months. And the capital cost is modest, the payback is fast, and we already have the playbook, the supply chain and the brand recognition in place to execute. Licensing revenue was $10.9 million in the first quarter, slightly below the prior year quarter. The year-over-year decrease in licensing net revenues is consistent with repositioning our brand and licensing strategy for fewer and bigger deals. Accordingly, we let a number of off-brand legacy licenses expire, which was partially offset by 5 new licensing deals in the quarter, spanning apparel, sleepwear, direct-to-retail and headwear across North America, EMEA and APAC. And in addition, we did not sign any new deals in China during our UTG negotiations. Our Byborg strategic partnership contributed $5 million of digital licensing revenue in the quarter, consistent with the contractual minimum guarantee. Corporate operating expenses on an adjusted basis, excluding stock-based compensation, transaction expenses and other items we normalize for adjusted EBITDA were approximately $7.1 million, a reduction of approximately $1.6 million versus the prior year quarter. Within that total, corporate operating expenses, excluding brand investment, were approximately $6.2 million, with personnel and occupancy savings driving the year-over-year reduction. The remaining approximately $900,000 represents direct investment in the Playboy brand, the magazine, editorial and the consumer platform. We view that spend as an investment, not overhead. Net loss for the quarter was $4 million or $0.03 per share, which included $3.5 million of transaction expenses related to the UTG deal compared to a net loss of $9 million or $0.10 per share in the first quarter of 2025, an improvement of approximately $5.1 million year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter was $5 million, an increase of $2.6 million versus the prior year quarter. This represents our fifth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. Excluding litigation expenses, adjusted EBITDA would have been $5.8 million. On the balance sheet, we ended the quarter with approximately $34.7 million in total cash, including restricted cash. Total debt was $144.9 million, down from $159.9 million at year-end 2025, reflecting the $15 million paydown from the initial UTG proceeds following the close of that transaction on March 20. That concludes our prepared comments. With that, operator, let's open the line for questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] The first question we have is from George Kelly of ROTH Capital Partners. George Kelly: First one for you. Ben, you mentioned in your prepared remarks about capital raise efforts at Honey Birdette. I was wondering if you could give any more detail on that process. Ben Kohn: George, thanks for the question. Look, we've had a lot of interest. It's a great brand. The business is performing well. And irrespective of the capital raise and based on the new store designs where we've reduced our build-out costs substantially, we're going to be opening 5 new stores, but I would say things are looking good on the capital raise, and we'll see what happens in the future without -- I can't really speak more to that, just given that it's an ongoing process. George Kelly: Okay. Fair enough. And then with respect to the stores that you're opening, can you just walk us through the 4-wall economics, the build cost, the kind of the AUV and margin, just the key aspects of the 4-wall that you're underwriting as you plan new stores? Ben Kohn: Yes. So our -- yes, we said that our 4-wall margin was about 40%. In terms of productivity, we're seeing about $1,500 a square foot is what we're getting on the average in our U.S. stores. And then in terms of build-out, we think we're at about $500,000 all in, and that's before TIs. And we'll probably have $30,000 to $40,000 of preopening expenses and you have about $35,000 of inventory. George, that substantially from what used to be about $900,000 to open the store. And so if you look at from an ROI and especially with what we're seeing for full-price items in the U.S., it's a good use of capital, and there's a ton of growth left in that brand. George Kelly: And remind me of the on average square footage per store? Marc Crossman: About 800,000 square feet. Ben Kohn: 800 square feet. Marc Crossman: 800 square feet, sorry. George Kelly: Okay. Great. And then just one last Honey Birdette question, and then I wanted to ask about one other topic. Your year-over-year compares get harder starting in 2Q for Honey Birdette. Aside from store growth, do you think you can maintain, I don't know, high single-digit, low double-digit growth, just given the more challenging compares? Or how should we think about growth for the remaining quarters of 2026? Marc Crossman: Yes, we don't want to give guidance. I don't think it'll be too far off of where we are right now going forward. Yes, retail is a little bit more difficult comp, but online is obviously a lower comp that's getting better. George Kelly: Okay. Okay. Fair enough. And then last question for me, just with respect to UTG. I know it's early days there that the deal didn't close that long ago. But can you just update us on the status of that business and how far along it is and what the kind of plan is in the near term? And just any kind of update on UTG post close? And that's all I had. Ben Kohn: Sure. So UTG is off to a good start. Again, as you said, we're only, what, 8 weeks into it, something like that, not even. They've been working with our existing partners, making sure there's a smooth transition. I think we feel comfortable with where they're going to come out for the year from a revenue perspective. It's important to note also, George, that when you look at Q1 for us and really going back to late in Q4, we stopped signing new deals in China, any new deals. And so -- and that was because part of what UTG wanted to do was free up categories for themselves as well because they are an operator. And so we feel good. I think it's a good relationship. We've known them for a long time, and we're excited about their plans and the investment they're going to make into the brand and the marketing of the brand. And so I think China is in the best place it's been in years. We're actually making progress also on our recovery of the litigation award that we won last year. So we finally got through the Chinese courts, and they're helping us begin the enforcement action against our former partner. Operator: The next question we have is from Alex Fuhrman of Lucid Capital Markets. Alex Fuhrman: Ben, you talked about letting some licensees kind of run off as they expire. How many more could there be? And how long do you think it's going to take just if you let all of the kind of underperforming licensees naturally expire? How long would it take to kind of get through that process? And could you just kind of help us to size up what is ultimately the opportunity here? Are there big categories, big regions that you really haven't been taking advantage of that you think you could unlock if you kind of clear out some of these underperforming legacy relationships? Ben Kohn: Sure. And thanks for the question. Look, I don't want to say they're underperforming, right? I think these are proactive decisions we're making based on the improvement of the company. When we had balance sheet issues, which I think we have largely solved at this point, we took a lot of deals on the licensing side, some of them small, but stacking a lot of nickels shows real revenue. And I think we're taking -- especially with David on board and the editorial strategy we have, we're taking a much more deliberate approach to long-term brand health. And so some of the deals are just underperforming, they're just deals that are off brand. And so we're looking for fewer and bigger partners that should allow us in the future to be much more efficient operating anyways for the business. And so it's not -- it's hard to sort of give guidance on it because it's sort of a step function, as I've always described licensing. But licensing has the potential to be substantially larger than it is today. And that is going to come down to what we're doing on the editorial side of the business as well. We are one brand, which is Playboy. And we have to make sure that what we do on the editorial side aligns with what we do on the licensing side, especially in the Western Hemisphere, and that's what we're focused on. And so part of that, Alex, was China. We just -- we didn't do new deals in China. There are some deals that were expiring there because of UTG, we put all of that on hold. And then part of that is proactively in the U.S. as a couple of deals came up, decided that we're not going to renew them as we have a larger strategy for U.S. licensing moving forward. And then to answer your question, there's a lot of categories that we are targeting right now, but that will tie directly to what we're doing on the content side. So as we relaunched this Playmate franchise, which is off to a great start, there's a lot of opportunity for products around Playmates. So when you think about color cosmetics, you think about lingerie, you think about Swim in our move to Miami, there are some opportunities there that we're excited about moving forward. And then rest of the world, obviously, putting Karol G on the cover, phenomenal influencer and musician, but there's a lot of white space in South America. And so that is deliberate moving forward, which is you start with content, that opens the doors for us and then you start to build around it. Alex Fuhrman: Yes. That makes sense, Ben. And then you mentioned paid voting some pretty big early numbers there. Can you talk about how profitable that business is and how big that could get for you? Ben Kohn: Well, yes, let's just start. So we're only a couple of weeks into this new contest, which is a collaboration between Playboy and Honey Birdette. Honey Birdette has designed a capsule collection of Playboy lingerie, and we're excited to see how that performs. We have already now surpassed, I think, as of today, the 17,000 contestants that we had registered in the last contest, and we still have about a month to go in registration. And we think paid voting could be millions and millions of dollars a year. Let's see how this contest does, but the early economics of the first one, even with all of our technical issues we have and that we have now resolved with a new partner, it was very, very promising on an annualized basis, that was multiple 7 figures. And I think if we do this one right and you get up to 30,000-plus contestants, this contest alone should be multiple 7 figures from a revenue perspective. And the profitability is great. But more importantly, it's the top of the funnel. So remember, as I sort of said in the prepared remarks, between sort of free content that sits out there as well as some of these contests, the last time we did this in the fall, we had 500,000 users register at playboy.com. We own that data moving forward. And so that allows us to now go back and market membership or subscription and other offerings to those users. So not only is paid voting extremely profitable for us, but it's an unbelievable top of the funnel, which is the women sign up to win the cash prize and to become the face of the Honey Birdette Playboy lingerie line, they go out to social. They ask their fans to vote for them. Their fans vote for them, but they're voting for them at Playboy and then we own that data moving forward. So it serves multiple purposes for us as part of our larger content, media and experiences strategy. And we're excited to see how the Playboy Honey Birdette line performs as well. Operator: The next question we have is from James Heaney of Jefferies. James Heaney: Ben, can we just give an update on the success that you're seeing with the magazine? I mean obviously, you've generated a lot of hype with the Karol G. So we would just be keen to hear about that release and how it's driving halo effects and traffic into your digital properties as well. Ben Kohn: Yes, James, thanks for the question. Look, obviously, Karol G is a huge name. But most importantly, we have 2 other huge names lined up behind her for the balance of this year. And the conversations we're having with talent, I would say, are getting easier and easier. As far as traffic, we launched what I would say is a very preliminary membership or subscription with the Karol G cover. We have a lot of learnings from it, but very pleased with the initial results of the number of people that have subscribed. Actually, a little bit shocking that in some of the earlier things we did, we saw more people subscribe for print. This one, we're actually seeing a lot of people subscribing for digital. The print magazine sold out, as I think we said, within the first day online. So I wish we had more because we obviously left some on the table there. And the sell-through at newsstand was very, very strong as well. And that's all part of our top of the funnel, right? It's getting those names to drive traffic that we then drive into a paid wall situation moving forward. So without getting into specific numbers yet because it's still really early, and we have a lot of learnings, but very encouraged by the early results. And we're seeing the same thing with Playmates, right? Launching Playmates on a monthly basis on social and then getting them to drive to see their galleries behind the paywall at playboy.com is also showing positive -- very positive results and something that we've learned a lot from. And as I've said before in previous calls, everything with us is now about testing and iterating, testing and iterating. We will continue to put resources behind things that are working and won't put resources behind things that aren't working. But early on, what we're doing on the media side, especially with Phillip and David now on board are very promising signs for a lot of growth in the future. James Heaney: Yes, that's great. And maybe just one for Marc. I was hoping you could talk about some of the OpEx levers that you continue to see in the business. I mean you've done a great job taking out OpEx over the last year, particularly, I think sales and marketing was strong. But interested kind of where you see potential for additional cost savings going forward. Marc Crossman: Yes. So I think we -- and thank you for the question, but I think we have a lot of room in the tech space with our tech stack. We're integrating AI throughout the company. We're finding that to help just on an overall basis, bring costs down. In addition to that, there are probably a few other things we can do that we probably shouldn't be talking about. But it's -- yes, like I said, there are still levers there, and we'll continue to pull. Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. And I would like to turn the call back to Ben Kohn for closing remarks. Ben Kohn: Thank you, operator, and thank you to everyone for joining us today. Q1 was a quarter of visible execution across all 4 pillars: revenue growth, our fifth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA, the closing of the UTG transaction and continued double-digit growth at Honey Birdette. As we move through the balance of 2026, we remain focused on disciplined capital allocation, putting Playboy back at the center of culture and further delevering the balance sheet. We appreciate your continued support and look forward to updating you on our progress in the months to come. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to our IR firm, MZ Group, who would be happy to answer them. Thank you, and we look forward to talking to you on the Q2 call. Operator: That concludes today's conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines. Before you buy stock in PLBY Group, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and PLBY Group wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $460,826!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,345,285!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 983% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 207% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 12, 2026. This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. PLBY (PLBY) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Interested in PLBY Group, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. PLBY Group said Q1 2026 revenue rose to about $30.2 million and Adjusted EBITDA improved to about $5 million, marking the company’s fifth straight quarter of positive Adjusted EBITDA. Net loss also narrowed to $4 million from $9 million a year earlier. Honey Birdette was the main growth driver, with revenue up 15.4% year over year to $18.8 million and strong U.S. store performance. Management plans to open five new U.S. locations over the next 12 months as the brand continues to expand. The company is shifting its strategy toward fewer, larger licensing partners while using the UTG China transaction to reduce debt. PLBY also highlighted a media relaunch and paid voting contests as potential new revenue streams, with management saying paid voting could become a significant business over time. PLBY Group Stock is Speculative Collectibles Play Riding the NFT Hype Train PLBY Group (NASDAQ:PLBY) reported first-quarter 2026 revenue growth and a narrower loss as management said its strategy to focus Playboy around licensing, media and experiences, hospitality and Honey Birdette is beginning to show results. On the company’s earnings call, Chief Executive Officer Ben Kohn said consolidated revenue rose to approximately $30.2 million from $28.9 million a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA was approximately $5 million, up 111% from the prior-year period, marking the company’s fifth consecutive quarter of positive Adjusted EBITDA. Excluding litigation expenses, Adjusted EBITDA would have been approximately $5.8 million. → Beyond NVIDIA: Picks-and-Shovels AI Plays with Strong Momentum “Q1 was a quarter of visible execution across all four pillars,” Kohn said in closing remarks, citing revenue growth, the closing of the UTG transaction and continued double-digit growth at Honey Birdette. Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Marc Crossman said Honey Birdette net revenue grew 15.4% year over year to $18.8 million, supported by double-digit comparable store growth across every region. The lingerie brand has now delivered six consecutive quarters of double-digit brick-and-mortar comparable store sales growth and four consecutive quarters of combined brick-and-mortar and online comparable store sales growth. → MercadoLibre Boldly Invests in Growth: Discount Deepens Crossman said full-price sales increased 23% from the prior year. Kohn said Valentine’s Day 2026 was Honey Birdette’s strongest to date, with its multi-piece full-price set strategy driving record average order value weeks. The Honey Club loyalty program, launched in mid-October, has surpassed 110,000 members. The U.S. is now Honey Birdette’s largest market, according to Kohn. Crossman said U.S. stores are running at approximately twice the sales productivity of the rest of the store portfolio and approximately three times the per-store profitability, with four-wall margins of about 40% in the quarter. → 3 Ways to Target the Resources Powering AI and Data Centers Management said the company plans to open five new Honey Birdette stores in top-tier U.S. malls over the next 12 months. In response to an analyst question, Crossman said the company is underwriting new U.S. stores at about $1,500 per square foot in productivity, with an all-in build-out cost of about $500,000 before tenant improvements, $30,000 to $40,000 in pre-opening expenses and approximately $35,000 of inventory. Kohn said that compares with a prior cost of about $900,000 to open a store. Licensing revenue was $10.9 million in the quarter, slightly below the prior-year period. Crossman said the decline was consistent with the company’s decision to reposition its licensing strategy toward “fewer and bigger deals.” The company allowed certain legacy licenses to expire, partially offset by five new licensing deals in apparel, sleepwear, direct-to-retail and headwear across North America, EMEA and APAC. Kohn said the company is also terminating or not renewing licensees that do not fit its broader plan. He said the decisions were driven by long-term brand health rather than underperformance, adding that some prior deals were smaller or “off-brand.” “We are one brand, which is Playboy, and we have to make sure that what we do on the editorial side aligns with what we do on the licensing side,” Kohn said. Crossman said the company did not sign new deals in China during negotiations with UTG. The ByteDance strategic partnership contributed $5 million of digital licensing revenue in the quarter, consistent with its contractual minimum guarantee. The company closed the UTG China transaction during the quarter and used initial proceeds to pay down $15 million of debt. Crossman said total debt was $144.9 million at quarter-end, down from $159.9 million at the end of 2025. Total cash, including restricted cash, was approximately $34.7 million. Kohn said the company plans to reduce debt further by nearly $37 million from future UTG payments, which he said would bring net debt “well below $100 million.” During the question-and-answer portion of the call, Kohn said UTG is “off to a good start” and has been working with existing partners to ensure a smooth transition. He also said the company is making progress on recovering a litigation award in China, with UTG helping begin enforcement action against Playboy’s former partner. Kohn highlighted new leadership hires, including David Miller as President of Media and Brand and Phillip Picardi as Chief Brand Officer and Editor-in-Chief. He said Miller has taken direct ownership of Playboy’s consumer-facing platform, website, media and experiences business, while Picardi is reshaping the brand’s editorial voice. Kohn pointed to the Spring 2026 magazine, featuring Karol G on the cover, as a key example of Playboy’s renewed cultural relevance. He said the issue generated more than 3 billion media impressions, more than 40 million video views across social platforms and earned media value in the tens of millions of dollars. He added that two more major celebrity covers are lined up for 2026. The company also launched a preliminary subscription offering for digital and print content. Kohn said the print magazine sold out online within the first day and that newsstand sell-through was strong. He said the company is seeing encouraging early results from both the magazine and Playmate content being used to drive users toward paid digital experiences. Management also highlighted Playboy’s paid voting contests as a growing part of its media and audience strategy. Kohn said the company’s first paid voting contest, The Great Playmate Search, drew more than 1.7 million votes from more than 17,000 contestants. A new contest, a collaboration between Playboy and Honey Birdette, is underway and is on track to exceed 30,000 contestants, he said. The winner of the current contest will become the face of a global advertising campaign, be featured in the Playboy quarterly magazine and receive a $100,000 prize. Kohn said paid voting could become “millions and millions of dollars a year” in revenue and described the contests as highly profitable, while also functioning as a top-of-funnel tool for collecting audience data and marketing subscriptions and memberships. For the quarter, the company reported a net loss of $4 million, or $0.03 per share, including $3.5 million of transaction expenses related to the UTG deal. That compared with a net loss of $9 million, or $0.10 per share, in the first quarter of 2025. PLBY Group, Inc is a global media and lifestyle company best known for its iconic Playboy brand. The company operates across multiple business segments, including consumer products, licensing, subscription commerce, sexual wellness and digital offerings. Through its diversified portfolio, PLBY Group brings its signature aesthetic and brand heritage to categories such as apparel, accessories, gaming, beverages, home goods and intimate lifestyle products. In the consumer products segment, PLBY Group designs and markets a range of branded goods under licensing agreements with major retailers and distributors worldwide. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "PLBY Group Q1 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for May 2026.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Release Date: May 11, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Playboy Inc (NASDAQ:PLBY) reported a 5% year-over-year increase in consolidated revenue, reaching $30.2 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 111% compared to the prior year, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. The company successfully closed the UTG China transaction and reduced gross debt by $15 million, with plans to further deleverage. Playboy Inc (NASDAQ:PLBY) launched a new subscription offering for digital and print content, enhancing its consumer platform. The H1y Burdette brand delivered six consecutive quarters of double-digit brick-and-mortar comparable store sales growth. Licensing revenue decreased slightly year-over-year, reflecting the company's strategy to reposition its brand with fewer and bigger deals. Net loss for the quarter was $4 million, although this was an improvement from the previous year's $9 million loss. The company faced challenges with its licensing strategy, having to let some off-brand legacy licenses expire. Playboy Inc (NASDAQ:PLBY) did not sign any new deals in China during the UTG negotiations, impacting potential revenue growth. The company is still in the early stages of integrating AI and other cost-saving measures, indicating ongoing operational adjustments. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with PLBY. Is PLBY fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Q: Ben, you mentioned in your prepared remarks about capital raise efforts at H1y Burdett. Can you provide more details on that process? A: We've had significant interest in H1y Burdett due to its strong brand performance. Regardless of the capital raise, we're opening five new stores with reduced build-out costs. The capital raise process is ongoing, so I can't provide more specifics at this time. Q: Can you walk us through the four-wall economics for the new stores you're planning to open? A: Our four-wall margin is about 40%, with productivity at approximately $1,500 per square foot in U.S. stores. Build-out costs are around $500,000, excluding tenant improvements, with pre-opening expenses of $30,000 to $40,000 and inventory costs of about $35,000. Q: With respect to UTG, can you update us on the status of that business post-close? A: UTG is off to a good start, ensuring a smooth transition with existing partners. We stopped signing new deals in China to free up categories for UTG. We're optimistic about their plans and investments in the brand, and we're making progress on recovering a litigation award in China. Q: Ben, you talked about letting some licensees expire. How long will it take to clear out underperforming licensees, and what opportunities does this present? A: These are proactive decisions to improve the company, not necessarily due to underperformance. We're focusing on fewer, bigger partners for long-term brand health. Licensing has the potential to grow significantly, especially with our editorial strategy aligning with licensing efforts. Q: Can you discuss the profitability and potential of the paid voting business? A: The paid voting contests are promising, with the potential to generate millions annually. The first contest showed strong results, and the current contest is on track to exceed previous participation. It's not only profitable but also serves as a top-of-the-funnel strategy for our content and media efforts. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Q1 Revenue of $30.2 Million; Net Loss of $4.0 Million, an Improvement of $5.1 Million; and Adjusted EBITDA of $5.0 Million, or $5.8 Million Excluding Litigation Expenses LOS ANGELES, May 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Playboy, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLBY) (the “Company” or “Playboy”), a global pleasure and leisure company connecting consumers with products, content, and experiences that help them lead happier, more fulfilling lives, today announced financial and operational results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026. Financial Summary First Quarter 2026 & Recent Operational Highlights: Playboy licensing revenue remains highly predictable and recurring, with approximately 90% of fiscal year 2025 licensing revenue supported by contractual guarantees and almost $333 million in unrecognized future revenue. Honey Birdette delivered 15% year-over-year sales growth in the first quarter of 2026, with gross margin of 57%. The Company closed its deal with UTG Brands Management Group Limited (“UTG”) for Playboy’s China licensing business on March 20, 2026. At the initial closing, UTG acquired a 16.67% equity interest in a joint venture that manages and licenses Playboy’s licensing business in China, Hong Kong and Macau (the “JV”) in exchange for $15.0 million, which Playboy used to pay down senior secured debt. Playboy also received a $4.0 million brand support payment at the initial closing. The Company expects to receive the remaining $30 million of purchase price proceeds for UTG’s acquisition of an additional 33.33% equity interest in the JV, along with a further $6 million in brand support payments, by January 2028. In addition, a remaining $62 million in total JV distributions will be paid to Playboy through 2033. The Company continued to reduce its senior debt, with $15.0 million paid down in the first quarter of 2026 from the UTG initial closing proceeds and nearly $37 million of additional forthcoming UTG proceeds earmarked for further debt reduction. Playboy strengthened its leadership team with the appointments of David Miller as President, Media & Brand and Phillip Picardi as Chief Brand Officer and Editor-in-Chief to drive content strategy, digital platform growth, and media monetization. Management Commentary Ben Kohn, Chief Executive Officer of Playboy, commented, “Playboy delivered a strong start to 2026, marked by continued revenue growth, a fifth consecutive quarter of positive Adjusted EBITDA, and meaningful progress across each of our strategic pillars. The initial closing of our partnership with UTG enabled us to immediately pay down $15 million of senior debt, further strengthening our balance sheet, with almost $37 million of additional UTG proceeds earmarked for debt reduction. “We enter the remainder of 2026 with significant momentum. Our licensing foundation remains highly predictable, anchored by contractual guarantees and almost $333 million in unrecognized future licensing revenue. Honey Birdette is growing while maintaining margins, and our content engine is driving audience growth through Playboy magazine and related programming. “With David Miller and Phillip Picardi in senior leadership roles, a strengthening balance sheet, and a world-class partner in UTG now managing our China business, we are executing from a position of strength. I look forward to continued execution in the months ahead as we work to deliver sustainable, long-term value for my fellow stockholders,” concluded Kohn. First Quarter 2026 Financial Results Total revenue was $30.2 million, compared to $28.9 million in the first quarter of 2025, reflecting a year-over-year increase of $1.4 million, or 5%. The increase in revenue was primarily due to a 15% increase in direct to consumer revenue, offset by a decline in licensing revenue, a decrease in brand-supporting activities and lower amortization of deferred revenue balances. Direct-to-consumer revenue was $18.8 million, up 15% from the $16.3 million in the first quarter of 2025. The increase in revenue was driven by continued strong sales of full price Honey Birdette products, particularly in the United States. Licensing revenue was $10.9 million, compared to $11.5 million in the first quarter of 2025, reflecting a year-over-year decrease of $0.5 million, or 5%. The decrease was primarily due to the expiration of a small number of licensing agreements, some of which are expected to be replaced in subsequent quarters. Operating expenses were $31.9 million, a decrease of 9% from $35.1 million in the first quarter of 2025. The decrease in operating expenses was primarily due to lower payroll expense, partially offset by higher costs of sales and transaction expenses related to Playboy’s recently announced new China joint venture. Net loss was $4.0 million, or $0.03 per share, compared to a net loss of $9.0 million, or $0.10 per share, in the first quarter of 2025. Net loss for the first quarter of 2026 included $3.5 million of transaction expenses related to the UTG deal. The year-over-year improvement reflects the Company’s continued focus on operational efficiency and disciplined cost management. Adjusted EBITDA was $5.0 million, an increase of 111% from adjusted EBITDA of $2.4 million in the first quarter of 2025. Excluding litigation expenses, Adjusted EBITDA would have been $5.8 million. Balance Sheet As of March 31, 2026, the Company had $34.7 million in cash. Conference Call Management will host an investor conference call at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, May 11, 2026 to discuss the Company’s first quarter 2026 financial results, provide a corporate update, and conclude with questions from telephone participants. To participate, please use the following information: Q1 2026 Earnings Conference Call Details Date: Monday, May 11, 2026 Time: 5:00 p.m. Eastern time U.S. Dial-in: 1-877-423-9813 International Dial-in: 1-201-689-8573 Conference ID: 13760265 Webcast: https://viavid.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1760907&tp_key=90cd654f67 Please join at least five minutes before the start of the call to ensure timely participation. A telephone playback of the call will be available through Thursday, June 11, 2026. To listen, please call 1-844-512-2921, using replay pin number 13760265. A webcast replay will be available using the webcast link above. About Playboy, Inc. Playboy (Nasdaq: PLBY) is a global pleasure and leisure company, built on one of the most globally recognized brands. By leveraging its iconic intellectual property, Playboy pursues an asset-light model across licensing, digital content, consumer products and experiential offerings, helping consumers worldwide to live more fulfilling lives. To learn more, please visit https://investors.playboy.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company’s actual results may differ from their expectations, estimates, and projections and, consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as “expect”, “estimate”, “project”, “budget”, “forecast”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “plan”, “may”, “will”, “could”, “should”, “believes”, “predicts”, “potential”, “continue”, and similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the Company’s expectations with respect to future performance, growth plans and anticipated financial impacts of its strategic opportunities and corporate transactions. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (1) the inability to maintain the listing of the Company’s shares of common stock on Nasdaq; (2) the risk that the Company’s completed or proposed transactions disrupt the Company’s current plans and/or operations, including the risk that the Company does not complete any such proposed transactions or achieve the expected benefits from any transactions; (3) the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of corporate transactions, commercial collaborations, cost reduction initiatives and proposed transactions, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, the ability of the Company to grow and manage growth profitably, and the Company’s ability to retain its key employees; (4) costs related to being a public company, corporate transactions, commercial collaborations and proposed transactions; (5) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (6) the possibility that the Company may be adversely affected by global hostilities, supply chain delays, inflation, interest rates, tariffs, foreign currency exchange rates or other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; (7) risks relating to the uncertainty of the projected financial information of the Company, including changes in the Company’s estimates of cash flows and the fair value of certain of its intangible assets, including goodwill; (8) risks related to the organic and inorganic growth of the Company’s businesses, and the timing of expected business milestones; (9) changing demand or shopping patterns for the Company’s products and services; (10) failure of licensees, suppliers or other third-parties to fulfill their obligations to the Company; (11) the Company’s high concentration of licensing revenue from a small number of licensees; (12) the Company’s ability to comply with the terms of its indebtedness and other obligations; (13) changes in financing markets or the inability of the Company to obtain financing on attractive terms; and (14) other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, including those under “Risk Factors” therein, and in the Company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive, and readers should not place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date which they were made. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based. Investor Relations Contact: Lucas A. Zimmerman Managing Director MZ Group - MZ North America +1 (949) 259-4987 [email protected] or [email protected] Public Relations Contact: [email protected] Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation This press release presents the financial measure earnings (net income or loss) before interest, income tax expense or benefit, and depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”). “Adjusted EBITDA” is defined as EBITDA adjusted for stock-based compensation and other special items determined by management. Adjusted EBITDA is intended as a supplemental measure of the Company’s performance that is neither required by, nor presented in accordance with, GAAP. The Company believes that the use of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA provides an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing our financial measures with those of comparable companies, which may present similar non-GAAP financial measures to investors. However, investors should be aware that when evaluating EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, the Company may incur future expenses similar to those excluded when calculating these measures. In addition, the Company’s presentation of these measures should not be construed as an inference that its future results will be unaffected by unusual or nonrecurring items. The Company’s computation of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures computed by other companies, because not all companies calculate Adjusted EBITDA in the same fashion. In addition to adjusting for non-cash stock-based compensation, non-cash charges for the fair value remeasurements of certain liabilities, non-recurring non-cash impairments and asset write-downs, the Company typically adjusts for non-operating expenses and income, such as nonrecurring special projects, including related consulting expenses, transition expenses, settlements, nonrecurring gain or loss on the sale of assets, expenses associated with financing activities, and reorganization and severance expenses that result from the elimination or rightsizing of specific business activities or operations. Because of these limitations, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for performance measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. The Company compensates for these limitations by relying primarily on our GAAP results and using EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA on a supplemental basis. Investors should review the reconciliation of net loss to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA below and not rely on any single financial measure to evaluate the Company’s business. The following table reconciles the Company’s net loss to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA: